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Artist Paul Harfleet’s interest lies in the implications of citizenship and its influence on navigation and memory of the urban environment. He augments and re-contextualises various sites and objects by allocating them with new meaning or significance often through drawing, photography and intervention.

The Pope is Dead....

Fifteen to twenty days after the Pope's death, the Cardinals meet to elect the next Pontiff. The election, known as a conclave, is held in a sealed and secure part of the Sistine Chapel. The ballots are burned after each vote, and if the vote is unsuccessful, a substance is added to the fire to produce black smoke. Thus, black smoke indicates to the waiting crowd that the voting continues, while white smoke signals that a new Pope has been chosen.

The photos above were taken over the same few days this was taking place in Rome. However in this case the smoke was produced by a stolen car that had been set on fire. The smoke turned white whilst the fire was being put out. I was drawn to this coincidence yet extreme contrast in location; In Rome thousands were completely focused on the subtle colour alteration of a plume of smoke, in anxious anticipation. In Manchester the plume of smoke signalled car crime and vandalism; here the colour change goes unnoticed.